1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a digital broadcast receiving terminal, and in particular, to an apparatus and method for storing video and audio data frames when receiving digital broadcast signals.
2. Description of the Related Art
The digital broadcast technologies have been dramatically developed so as to enable the digital broadcast receiving terminal to store and play back particular digital broadcast content frame-by-frame according to a user's desired schedule, which is different from the conventional simple receiving function.
Generally, if the digital broadcast receiving terminal enters a weak electric field strength region where receiving digital broadcast data is difficult, the received video and audio data can not be used to reproduce complete audio/visual signals displayed on the screen until the terminal enters a strong electric field strength region. Hence, when the digital broadcast receiving terminal enters a weak electric field strength region, the digital broadcast receiving terminal stops receiving the digital broadcast data, and checks the digital broadcast data when the digital broadcast receiving terminal re-enters a strong electric field strength region once again.
Moreover, if the digital broadcast receiving terminal enters a weak electric field strength region even while storing digital broadcast data, it also stops the storing process together with the reception of the broadcast data. Unfortunately, when the terminal re-enters a strong electric field strength region again, the user must manually manipulate the terminal to restart the storing process.
In many cases, in order to make it unnecessary for the user to restart the storing operation, the digital broadcast receiving terminal may continue to receive the digital broadcast data, even in a weak electric field strength region. However, in this case, the faulty data received in the weak electric field strength region must be stored in digital broadcast receiving terminal's memory, resulting in unnecessary consumption of memory capacity. Further, the digital broadcast receiving terminal generally plays back the stored contents frame-by-frame according to the order of Time Stamp (TS). Hence, if the digital broadcast terminal does not stop the storing process while in a weak electric field strength region, even the faulty data frames stored in memory, while in the weak electric field strength region, must be played back before the normal data frames are stored once again when the digital broadcast receiving terminal re-enters the strong electric field strength region.